The left-hand lane on the Monaro Highway near Hume has been closed to repair potholes. Photo: James Coleman.
UPDATE 3 PM: The ACT Government has confirmed a lane closure for the rest of the day along the Monaro Highway while crews complete repairs to potholes that blew out the tyres on several cars this morning.
A spokesperson told Region “following construction works last week, some potholes have opened up on the existing northbound carriageway pavements of the Monaro Highway at Hume near the Alexander Maconochie Centre”.
“Temporary repairs were conducted yesterday afternoon, however these were hampered by the significant rain that occurred.
“The rain resulted in potholes worsening and additional potholes developing.”
Repair work started early today, and by 7:40 am, six potholes had been fixed and both lanes reopened.
But the government spokesperson said these were only temporary, and the left-hand-side lane would be closed all of today as crews continue to work at the site to complete the repairs.
ORIGINAL STORY, 1 PM: At least four commuters travelling northbound along the Monaro Highway near Hume during peak hour this morning came in for a nasty bump.
A post on the Canberra Notice Board Group on Facebook warned motorists to “be aware” of “huge potholes” in the left lane of the road near the Alexander Maconochie Centre.
“Saw multiple cars on side of road with busted wheels,” the post read.
Callers to the ABC radio’s Breakfast show also reported four cars had pulled over to change tyres within a 500-metre stretch of the road near the jail, with some blaming “roadwork debris” for the damage.
The ABC was later told a government repair crew had been dispatched and had closed one lane for “emergency repair work”. This was expected to be completed “properly” after peak hour.
At around 10:30 this morning, about 500 metres of the left lane was closed to traffic, with a construction crew using heavy machinery to remove loose debris from around several large potholes.
A truck was preparing to pour fresh road mix into these holes.
A widened bridge will be built north of Lanyon Drive over Dog Trap Creek. Photo: James Coleman.
It’s not clear yet what caused the damage to spring up seemingly overnight, but this area of the Monaro Highway is frequented by heavy trucks as part of the Lanyon Drive flyover roadworks.
This flyover is expected to open in 2026.
The highway north of the Lanyon Drive intersection, where the potholes occurred, will include a widened bridge over Dog Trap Creek and a new merge lane for traffic joining it from Jerrabomberra or Queanbeyan.
The ACT Government was contacted for comment.
